The present invention relates to a system for permitting a central computer, or a designated set of computers, to manage, control or monitor a large network of remote computer systems. Currently, such a control system is designed and developed as an integral part of the network's initial design, with every desired option or action having been anticipated and engineered as part of the overall system development. This results in a very complex system which is costly, difficult and time-consuming to build, and extraordinarily difficult to modify or expand. For example, if, after the network is installed, the customer determines that he requires a new feature, the existing software must be modified, re-compiled, and the recompiled version installed on all computers in the system--all at great expense and over a long period of time. The present invention obviates this complex and costly process, and can be overlaid on any existing distributed computer system, regardless of operating system or platform.
Other prior art systems such as Object Request Brokers (ORBs) have been developed in recent years to facilitate the exchange of data/files and the interoperability of application programs. ORBs do allow heterogeneous applications to operate together, but require significant set-up time and effort. ORBs do not offer the wide-ranging, flexible, and direct control of remote computers that the present invention offers. In addition, ORBs are not "ad hoc" in the sense that new relationships cannot be set up quickly and run remotely and communicated to a large network of computers as in the present invention. In this sense, ORBs are really not, nor were they intended, to perform the functions that are foreseen for the present invention.